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A few pointers

For teens considering startups, and for their parents, adolescent entrepreneurs offer some tips:

• Find and fill an unmet need. For example, the skills many teens use every day can be marketable. On Elance, a Web site where freelancers' services are bought and sold, demand among business clients for help establishing a presence on Facebook or Twitter is rising fast, a spokeswoman says. The site requires providers to be at least 18 years old.

• Look for a low-cost niche. After a vendor knocked at Loree Greta's door last summer in Austin, offering to clean her windows for $150, she suggested her 14-year-old son, Max (the brother of jewelry maker Marlo Adelle Greta), make the rounds offering to do the same for one-third as much. Brandishing a long-handled squeegee, vinegar, buckets and newspaper, Max earned about $300 washing windows.

• Find something you love. Jessica Cervantes, a Miami 18-year-old who loves to bake, grew tired of cleaning up cupcake messes and smeary frosting spots after birthday parties for her young cousins. So she cooked up a fancy cupcake on an edible cookie stick and is now selling Popsy Cakes for $30 a dozen. Although it's tough cramming in baking and delivering orders with her homework, she made $6,000 last year for her college fund.

• Don't be discouraged by your age, says Anshul Samar, 15, of Cupertino, Calif., who is marketing "Elementeo," a chemistry game he created, on Amazon.com. "Your age can even be an advantage," allowing a little risk taking "without worrying about who's going to put the dinner on the table." And many adults are glad to lend a helping hand to enterprising teens, he says.

• Expect setbacks. During Cervantes' first few tries at making Popsy Cakes, "no one wanted to eat them," she says. Hunt, the Web designer, says he tried at first to design an online game but failed. Even if you fail, he advises, "go for it. Don't stop, because you will get somewhere if you try hard enough."

One of the most common pitfalls faced by entrepreneurial teens, says Junior Achievement's Kosakowski, is parents. Instead of providing encouragement, he says, many say: "Why do you want to take that risk? Go work for somebody else." In fact, there's no better time than adolescence to try out ideas, while children have the freedom to fail without overwhelming consequences.

GirlyWhirls.com was born when Loree Greta, Marlo's mother, picked up on a remark her daughter made while they were shopping. Eyeing some barrettes, Marlo said, "'I can make that at home,'" Loree recalls. "So she did." With Loree providing feathers, shells, beads and felt, the barrettes began selling well in several boutiques. Today, GirlyWhirls.com employs four part-time "hairclip helpers" and pays Marlo about $200 to $300 a month after expenses. Marlo says she wants to continue the business through college, where she will probably major in design; her mother's encouragement, she adds, has made all the difference.

This article was reported by Sue Shellenbarger for The Wall Street Journal.

Published April 18, 2009

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